Shattered Mirrors
by geekdad
Summary: After a near fatal accident Wally is forced to evaluate his past and determine his future including the friends and relationships he left behind. T for cursing. Set after Invasion. Spitfire galore.
1. Prologue

**Broken Windows Shattered Mirrors**

Broken windows shattered mirrors

The tiny slivers fall like tears

They cut me till my arms run red

They make me wish that I was dead

And though I try to carry on

I know my time here's almost gone

Broken windows shattered mirrors

Broken windows shattered mirrors

I'm surrounded by these fears

I know I shouldn't be afraid

I feel like I'm locked up in a cage

I push and pull try to get out

I scream until I just can't shout

Broken windows shattered mirrors

Broken windows shattered mirrors

I'll have bad luck seven years

I know it's just a superstition

But I also know it's pure intuition

That made me stay not fade away

So I could live another day

Broken windows shattered mirrors

Anonymous Ghurl

Wally laid in the darkness, reciting the poem he had never heard before, one he had no memory of ever reading. Each sliver contained a memory of life that had never existed for him, ones he had never led, but felt so real, so pure. Pangs of regret ate away at him as it became harder and harder to breathe. There wasn't much time left, but the visions reflecting in the broken shards kept him company


	2. Chapter One

_Author's Note__. We'll were back. Most of us had already seen the last episode, either through iTunes or other less reputable places, so as usual no spitfire. To be painfully honest I'm not sure how much we are going to see, and that makes me sad. I'm tired of the new kid's domination of the episodes, when the creator's always said the show was about the core 6. They really proved me wrong in Depths so hopefully I am wrong again. This story is completely done, and if you like it and I get enough reviews, I might put the whole thing out before Saturday. It's up to you fair readers. I've given up trying to catch all the typos, please forgive and soon forget. Hope you enjoy._

Chapter One

Artemis knew he was going to be there and she was pissed. Dick had called to give her the heads up, but after hearing the keywords of _invite_ and _Wally_ and _Christmas party_, she had hung up on him immediately. Dick Grayson might be her boss in the civilian world, but among the covert team that still existed to fight injustice they were equals. There was no reason for him to have done this now, but technically he was President and CEO of Wayne Tech Securities so she would just have to conquer and overcome, she had been doing it her whole life.

After all the fallout and consequences of their battle with the Light and the Reach, the team affectionately nicknamed Young Justice by their junior members, had to rethink the way they did business. All formal ties with the Justice League had been severed for public relation purposes due to the damage and destruction from their final conflict. The League had a relationship with the U.S. and other world governments, and they couldn't be party to protecting a reckless group of heroes, despite the fact they had saved the world. However off the books they continued to do missions for them in much the same function and manner as they did before. They weren't quite vigilantes, but they remained an unaffiliated group unto themselves.

With Mt. Justice destroyed, and the senior members no longer of school age, it was necessary for them to explore and expand their alter egos and find legitimate work and employment. For persons like Conner, Megan, and Kaldur, having a dual identity was a new experience. They still received a stipend form the League unofficially, but with no housing, stocked kitchen, or headquarters to train in, it was finally time for them to make it on their own in the real world. Younger members were still required to go to school, and were provided with training facilities by Oliver Queen, but the senior members would have limited access and might have found too difficult to remain together or take on missions and operations. That's where Bruce Wayne came in.

Batman for years had been discussing with Dick Grayson the need for him to get more involved with Wayne Enterprises. As Bruce Wayne's adopted son, one day this entire organization would be left to him and he needed to understand the intricacies of the business side of it. Dick was reluctant to have anything handed to him, and after much deliberation the two came up with an idea. Nightwing had always been a master hacker and knew the computer systems of Wayne Tech inside and out. On occasion he even had input on design and security upgrades that had always been his niche. So with the ever increasing threat of cyber break-ins and terrorism, the two formed the company Wayne Tech Securities, a subsidiary of the Wayne Enterprises. This allowed Bruce and Dick to officially hire the senior members in roles they were largely comfortable with and trained for. This job would not just entail sitting behind a desk looking at code, but also boots on the ground field work, investigating the different organizations that participated and trafficked in such criminal activities. Such organizations would be thoroughly investigated and privately dealt with by the proper law enforcement agencies or occasionally by their own unique brand of justice.

The company's growth had been slow at first, but when they officially became responsible for the entire Wayne conglomerate, offers from other companies began pouring in. Dick would never admit it, but he found the business side very interesting and satisfying. The team continued their normal patrolling and hero functions, but the top three floors of the office complex in downtown Gotham unofficially became their new headquarters. Additional staff was hired due to the increased work load, but none were aware that the senior staffs, with their private secured offices on the top floor and their many unscheduled business trips, were actually the same costumed vigilantes that patrolled their home cities protecting their citizens. The top floor was so secure it even housed a Zeta Tube for easy transportation across the country for senior and junior members as well as Nightwing's personal residence.

So when the second annual staff Christmas party invites were sent out, it was common knowledge among the team that their presence was mandatory at this function. Artemis never liked parties, but realized they were important to maintain their cover, and deep down she actually liked most of the civilian staff that worked there. Also after repeated and annoyed requests, it was also a chance to finally bring Doug Martin to her office and meet her coworkers. The same Doug Martin she had been dating for the past seven months.

Artemis and Doug had met during an Extreme Vacation Adventure Excursion. After they both realized they had been on three trips together in the same travel group, they recognized that their attraction and compatibility was undeniable. They were both young successful businesspersons with a secret life as adrenalin junkies. Doug was not aware how far that addiction actually went with Artemis. She could not tell him of her heroic alter ego without putting her other teammate's identities in jeopardy, but also never felt the need to. Their relationship was fun and exciting both understanding they were kindred spirits. She had not intended for it to become romantic, but that's usually how the best ones start. However due to her past and the last time she had let someone into her heart, she had no intention of it becoming too serious, at least for now.

The party was in full swing by the time they arrived. This job field could be a very stressful occupation, so it was fun to see the staff with their hair down in a less professionally setting. They weren't the only ones having fun. Dick as always was the ringmaster. Handing out drinks and keeping the atmosphere fun. Conner usually the sullen one, was all smiles laughing and flirting, much to Dick's dismay, with the attractive female staff that worked a few floors down for the other businesses in the building Dick had invited. Kaldur was there, dressed in a turtle neck and comfortable clothes to hide his Atlantean appearance. Megan played host mom, handing out appetizers and desserts she insisted on preparing herself. Roy sat to the side in deep conversation with what appeared to be his younger brother, when in reality was the clone he was spawned from. Their relationship had greatly improved, and older Roy was showing him the ropes on proper pick up techniques, since his ex-assassin wife at home would have his hide if the archer tried it himself. Having his sister-n-law there also prevented him from getting too wild.

Artemis made small talk all the while keeping a tight grip on her boyfriend's hand.

Dick was the first of the senior staff she reluctantly introduced him to.

"Dick-Doug, Doug Dick, can we go now?"

"Artemis!" Doug chided. "Excuse her, You know what a party animal she is I assume. Nice to meet you Dick."

"Same here. We've heard the stories, nice to finally put a face to them. So you guys met at the Mt. Everest trip right?"

"Yeah. At 16,000 feet she had to drag my sorry ass to the top."

"You were doing fine," she smiled.

"Artemis tells me you were the one to convince her to do the climb," Doug spoke. "Thanks I owe you. When did you make the ascension?"

"About a year ago, best of time of my life. Listen I was about to grab some beers, come with me let me show you around."

Artemis immediately began to protest when Doug silenced her with a kiss. She had always been a sucker for that. "I'm fine babe. I might even see if I can get Wayne Tech to look at my firm's security status."

"I always love talking shop, come one," Dick smiled. "Artemis go try to have some fun, I know you're already looking at your watch."

"Whatever," she groaned. "Try not to keep him too long. We have plans after this."

Dick waved and the two men disappeared in the crowd. Artemis grabbed a drink off of one of the serving trays and did her best imitation of having fun, while keeping an eye out for someone she was not the least bit excited to see. She mingled into the kitchen making small talk when she finally saw him off in the corner. It was hard not to notice the two attractive redheads in the same room and she quickly glanced away from the forms of Wally West and Barbara Gordon laughing in fun conversation. Barbara immediately caught glimpse of the archer and called for her. Artemis clinched her teeth cursing quietly as she finally turned around realizing the persistence of the female caped crusader would eventually win.

She walked over and inwardly shivered at the site of her ex-boyfriend. Of course he had to look as hot as she remembered she mentally cursed. He might even have been a tad more muscular. They both were in their early twenties, well past any growth spurts, but she still thought he had grown an inch. Unfortunately his eyes were as green as she recalled and she avoided looking at them at all cost.

From his expression she deduced that he was possibly feeling the same about her, not that it mattered anymore.

"Barbara, Wally," she formally pronounced. "Merry Christmas."

Wally swallowed hard, "Uh..same to you. You look…uh great."

"Thanks," she answered curtly, not hinting at all the she felt much the same way. "Barbara I love that dress, where did you get it?"

Artemis was relieved that Barbara started a long diatribe about her mid-town shopping experience of which the archer had no interest in whatsoever, but the ongoing conversation drowned any opportunity for her to have to address the speedster. Doug would be back soon enough and they could be on their way.

"God I am such a chatterbox, alcohol does this to me sorry. I'm going to grab some of Megan's crab cakes and let you too catch up," she grinned evilly.

"Barbara wait! "the archer protested, but sighed and realized she was trapped.

She turned to look at Wally's bemused expression. It had been almost two years since they last saw each other. Their break up had been as ugly as they both assumed it would be. To be fair the superhero life was absolute hell on relationships, that's why so few ever dated within their appointed teams, the most successful of course being Ollie and Dinah, but Wally and Artemis had become a close second, until Dick's plan had been put into place. After she returned from her time undercover, the speedster had assumed they would both assume their old lives together, but too much had changed. Artemis realized she could not give up the life, and Wally tried his best to understand and be supportive, but deep down was hurt and resentful. Long days apart at school would lead to long nights of him waiting at home for her to return from missions and patrolling. She in turn felt the disappointment and disillusionment with him for wasting the gift he had worked hard to recreate. Artemis had always been in awe of his intelligence, but soon realized that science had become the girlfriend she couldn't be to him anymore. Their schedules grew more and more apart until once day Wally finally called it off. There was no battle to remain together, just a shared animosity and the need for blame. Graduation came and the both barely spoke as they broke their lease and separated their belongings.

The last thing Wally said to her was cutting and cold despite its innocuous appearance. "We'll laugh about this someday."

She cried on and off for weeks, but soon dove headfirst into as many missions as possible to silence the hurt. She and Dick never spoke of him, Nightwing knowing how painful the subject was, but eventually Artemis overheard Conner and Roy discussing the speedster being nominated by the Dean of Science at Stanford and consequently accepted by the European Organization of Nuclear Research to be part of the team working on the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland in search of the long sought after "God Particle" the essential building block of the universe. It was an incredibly high honor for such a young man, and for his friends, who remembered him as the loudmouth reckless flirt that hid his genius behind the clowning facade, they couldn't have been more proud, Artemis included, though she would never admit it to anyone. It had always been a dream of his to be involved with something of this importance, but he could no longer share his joy with her or hers with him. It was over.

So the former lovers stood next to each other in the crowded kitchen, each desperately searched for something to say so they could civilly move on and get it over with. It would probably be another few years before they were faced with something like this again, or so she hoped.

As usual Wally was first. "Well that was awkward," he winced eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah I guess," Artemis answered nonchalantly trying to deliver the hint that she would like to end this conversation as soon possible.

Wally tried to run through several different scenarios of pleasantries or small talk they could exchange, but soon realized _abrupt and to the point_ was going to be the best approach.

"I recognize that look, so let me give you your freedom. It was nice seeing you and enjoy the party. I just want us to be as professional as possible; I'm not here to screw up your life."

Artemis just stared at the speedster, with a look equal part confused and annoyed. "Ok." she answered sarcastically. "Ditto."

She concluded and began walking off when Doug snuck up on her from behind and squeezed her tightly. She immediately recognized his touch and was not alarmed, just perhaps a bit uncomfortable with this happening in front of her ex. For someone she had spent so much of her life with, someone who in the past she could almost finish his sentences, he was fairly unreadable at the moment. Somewhere deep down she could feel his sadness, but neither was willing to acknowledge it.

"Didn't think you could hide so easily did you?" he grinned. Doug finished kissing the back of his girlfriend's neck and realized she had been in mid conversation, and he was interrupting. He quickly extended his hand to the redhead who firmly gripped it.

"Sorry for interrupting. Doug Martin," he announced and shook the speedsters hand enthusiastically.

"Wally West," the speedster returned.

"Oh wow, the Wally West. It's nice to finally meet you. Artemis has talked a lot about you."

Wally grimaced and both men broke into a mild chuckle. "I bet she has, don't believe everything Doug. Satan hasn't saved me an apartment just yet."

It was a good natured conversation and both men were amicable. Artemis's stomach churned as the two made brief but pleasant small talk until once again Wally beat her to the punch.

"I think I've taken enough of your time. Artemis it was good seeing you and Doug it was nice meeting you. You guys enjoy the party."

With a final handshake, he was off to find his old teammates and mingle, but not before turning around. "Artemis I like him, he's a keeper."

Years of heroics under pressure had trained Artemis never to reveal her emotions under fire, but at the moment she had to wonder if she was wearing a shocked expression or not. She quickly composed herself just to be safe and led Doug in the opposite direction. Her blood pressure mildly increased wondering if Wally was being nice or snide. Their time apart had really made him unreadable and that troubled her for some reason. In some ways he really was a stranger.

The party continued on for a few more hours until finally wrapping up just short of midnight. Everyone gathered around as Dick strode into the middle of the crowd preparing for a brief announcement.

"Guys we had a great year and I really want to thank each and every one of you for your hard work and dedication. We started out as a small firm, a pet project of Wayne Enterprises. We're not the biggest, we're not the best. Not yet at least, but if we continue this growth, companies are going to be knocking down our door for our services, and you guys are the reasons why. When you get home check your banking, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Merry Christmas."

Everyone erupted into a hearty round of applause realizing they had just received the rumored bonus they had hoped for. Later on they would discover it to be more generous than they could have dreamed.

"Bruce and I thank you guys, enjoy your time off and of course have a safe holiday. Skelton crews begin tomorrow. Now get out of here before I put you to work," he laughed and the crowd smiled and said their goodbyes.

Quickly Dick made one last statement. "Oh wait before I forget I need to introduce our latest hire. He looked over at the man and smiled sheepishly. "I know you hate this, that's why I enjoy it so much."

"Guys this man comes highly recommended. His resume would take hours to go through and most of us would never understand it. Suffice it to say he knows his stuff, and anytime your office needs cleaning or someone leaves a mess in the break room, this is your guy."

Artemis felt bile form in her throat.

"Ok. I'm done embarrassing him. In all seriousness, we are really lucky to have him. I know he will fit in great and his work with numbers theory and algorithms is going to blow your minds. He is really going to take us to the next level. Guys please welcome our chief scientific advisor and my best friend…. Wally West."

Everyone gave a quick raising of their glasses and Wally retuned in kind. He finished his champagne and accidently caught sight of the blond archer as she fumed back at him. He let out a noticeable sigh that she could easily observe from across the room and turned away.

Artemis grabbed her coat and her boyfriend and made her way to the exit where Dick and Megan were saying their goodbyes.

She stormed past him, before briefly stopping and putting her face almost nose to nose with hers.

"You're a prick you know that." she spoke in a quiet but angry tone. She stomped out leaving Doug yelling a quick _nice to meet you_ as she slammed the elevator button waiting for a car.

Wally slowly made his way up to his best friend as the last of the crown shuffled out.

"Well that went well. You didn't tell her did you?" he deadpanned.

"I tried," Dick replied. "She hung up on me. What am I supposed to do? Draw her a picture?"

"I don't know; maybe ease into it a bit more before dropping Fat Man and Little Boy on her."

Dick just stared at him

"You know the atomic bombs we dropped on Japan?"

"Yep we hired the right guy, Nightwing smiled. "Brilliant, but geeky."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Wally lamented.

"Wally I wasn't kidding with what I said back there. We _are_ lucky to have you. This is not some charity case, this is a steal for us, a homerun without ever going to the batter's box. She'll come around, just give her time."

Wally sighed, silently doubting anything Dick said was true.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The Christmas holidays were the perfect time for Wally to get up to speed on the designs and safeguards Wayne Tech Securities were currently employing. Computers were not Wally's strong suit by any means, but math was. You can't be a good physicist without being a good mathematician, and that was one of the many areas Wally excelled in. With his expertise, the code they were writing and searching for would have an encryption that only a few in the world would be able to break, and Dick would know because he was once of them.

Conner, Kaldur and Artemis usually took care of the risk management end of the business, trying to infiltrate firms to see what their weaknesses are. That could range from tricking a bank teller into giving them access to an account all the way to physically breaking into a building to bypass the security. Wally would need to be able to perform all those tasks, but Dick never doubted friend's abilities, not for a second.

Wally usually stayed in the computer lab for long hours never coming out except for the three times he took lunch daily to satisfy his metabolism. Those meals were usually quick and he would be back in the lab before anyone noticed. Despite the constant invites of his former teammates, Wally kept to himself during business hours.

Unfortunately for the speedster, one of his many trips to the refrigerator coincided with an archer trying to find her small salad behind the mountain of groceries inside. Wally walked in just in time to see her throwing his Tupperware on the floor digging out what was hers.

Bumping into her was a moment he was dreading, but watching her trash his lunch changed the politeness he had been practicing.

"What the hell Artemis? Very mature. I put your lunch on the top shelf right by your diet coke."

This isn't your dorm fridge Wally, you can't hog everything. And how in the hell do you know what I eat?"

"Well first off, this fridge belongs to the computer lab staff, and during the holidays I am the only one here, Second your office isn't even on this floor, so I have no idea what you are doing putting your food in here, and third you eat oriental salads with green olives and water chestnuts. Always have probably always will."

She ignored the first two points, unsure of why she had actually placed her lunch there. "I don't have a diet coke," she responded trying her best deflect his inquisitive emerald stare.

"I know. I brought it. I wanted you to have it." He gently took her hands attempting to calm the confrontation.

She quickly jerked her hands back. "What in the hell do you think you're doing West?"

"I'm trying to be nice, I'm trying to be pleasant. Jesus it's been two years, are you really that freaking petty that you can't just be friendly after all we have been through."

Artemis felt her blood begin to boil, but refused to give him the satisfaction. She was however senior staff and did not want to be seen yelling at a subordinate, which technically Wally was, in front of anyone who might walk in.

"My office, Now!"

Wally grinned. "Yes mam."

Her fists clinched as she recognized the flirty tone. The hallways were deserted and when she entered her office with the speedster behind him, she slammed the door and shoved him against the wall.

"I don't think this is funny, not one god dammed bit. I don't want you here. I have no idea why Dick felt the need to hire your ass. Why in the hell did you leave Europe or wherever the hell it was doing whatever scientific bullshit you geeks do?"

"So you were keeping up with me huh?" he grinned which infuriated her even more.

"This isn't funny asshole. I hope you can hurry up and find out whatever weaknesses our systems might have and get the hell out of here. Tim does just fine by himself and the kid id barely out of high school. No one wants you here Wally, they don't want someone who walked away from their friends when they needed him the most."

Without a bow, Artemis's arrow hit her target.

She removed her arm and Wally took a step back, adjusting his shirt.

She turned away and went to her office window looking out at the busting streets of the city.

Silence reigned for minutes. "Why in the hell did he have to hire you?"

"Because I asked him to," Wally replied. Artemis whirled around ready to explode again when she recognized the hurt expression draped across the speedsters face. Despite her defenses, it tugged at her heart in a way she hadn't felt in years.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have joked. I thought Dick had already told you otherwise I would have pulled you aside at the party and let you know. Trust me I didn't want you to be blindsided."

"I'll bet," she spewed.

"Artemis look…I'm sorry. I made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people. You and I weren't the only ones who broke up. I lost my best friend and people that were like family to me. I just up and left without goodbyes or anything. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway."

"We all survived somehow despite the loss of the almighty Kid Flash. They're doing just fine. Look round you. We are better off since you left. Everyone is."

Wally knew she was trying to hurt him, knew she was referring to herself, but he had been preparing for this moment when they would finally have it out, and he wasn't going to let it get out of hand until they both spoke their minds.

"So what are you going to tell them huh? What smooth line are you going to feed them to make it sound like it was my fault that you left? That you couldn't handle me still being a hero while you were too chickenshit to stand by your friends when they needed you most."

Wally face grew red to the point that Artemis wondered if he was nearing a stroke. She hadn't realized how much pent up anger she had been holding back, and her ex-boyfriend was the perfect punching bag.

Wally took a moment to take a deep breath to keep the conversation from going to the next level. "I'm going to tell them what I'm telling you know. I'm a selfish insecure jerkoff. I felt like everyone owed me something since I rejoined the team to "_save the day_" when all I was doing was trying to get you back so we could live the life I wanted. I thought it was so noble of me, so mature to leave the costumed life behind, and I felt everyone should consider me something special. I lost sight of what was important and I just kept running away. You always said that's what I was best at and you were right?"

In all the years that Artemis had known him, she had never heard such brutal honesty before. Wally was the guy who was always right, or pretended to be to the point that everyone started to believe him. To see him tear down his arrogant walls and just be humble and vulnerable was unnerving.

He made his way towards her door an opened it, but not before turning around to finish his thoughts.

'When I was in was in Switzerland I had an epiphany of sorts, and I realized how much I had run away from. I can't change what I did; I can't go back in time, even though science says it could be theoretically possible in the next deca….."

Realizing he was drifting off course he re-gathered himself.

"I should have been more supportive to Dick, more understanding to Megan. I should have been more worried about _you_ than _us_, but everyone I know, including you I might point out, has made mistakes. Big ones. And even though they screwed up, they were given a second chance, no questions asked. That's what I'm asking for now. After everything all of us has been through, I don't think that's asking too much, do you?"

She sat there in silence as he turned and left. Then the door opened again and he walked in one final time. "I want you to know this isn't about us. I'm not here to screw up your life; I'm not here trying to ask for a second chance for us. Doug seems like a really decent guy and if he makes you happy that's great. I know somewhere along the line of our relationship we kind of skipped over the part where we became friends. Maybe someday we could work on that, ok?"

"Ok," she silently grumbled.

"Have a Merry Christmas Artemis," he sweetly smiled. "See you next year."

The next few weeks the two avoided each other, occasionally sharing the same hallway and exchanging brief hellos. Everyone else had welcomed Wally back with open arms, and it seemed from her standpoint just like old times, which in all honesty kind of pissed her off. She had to remind herself that his relationship with Dick, Roy, and Kaldur superseded theirs. He had been there when Roy went to rehab, he had been there when Batman chose a new partner which crushed Dick for a time, and he never left Kaldur's side for a week after Tula died. Even Conner who famous for his grudge holding, was more than open to the speedster's return to the flock, probably due to never having been able to properly thank him for the opportunity for a new life the three men had provided him when they released him form Cadmus. She had moved on with her life now, why couldn't she give him the same courtesy the others had?

Deep down she knew why and that pissed her off even more.

Wayne Tech Security was never just a front for the team, but a fully functional and profitable business that just happened to be run by part time superheroes. That may have seemed like an unfair advantage if other firms had known the truth, but one Dick was completely comfortable with. Lately however their nightly missions and patrols had begun to overlap. W.T.S had never been just about cyber security, it also had boots on the ground real time physical protection, and that just happened to be what Artemis and Conner both excelled in. Break ins, computer related or not, were dealt with the same way, it just never hurt to have personnel as well trained and gifted as the one they employed.

The newest threat had Nightwing concerned. Several of their top clients, including Wayne Enterprises, had suffered massive cyber-attacks within hours of each other. The patterns were random, but highly coordinated which was stretching the team extremely thin. Some consisted of a constant barrage to the firewalls Tim Drake was so proud of, other dealt with physical break-ins where viruses were directly downloaded to the serves. So far all of Wayne Tech's protocols had kept the attackers at bay, but each new threat became more complex and more difficult to keep out.

This had become not just a business related threat, but one that could affect the Justice League as well. Wayne Enterprises computers were used throughout the Batcave and the Watchtower, Despite the fact they were cutting edge next gen systems, deep down inside the smallest byte of RAM, lye programs used by the Batman that could theoretically give away secrets that could put League members and their families at risk. The infiltration of that information was still miles away, but the threat was growing bigger and the attacks getting smarter. This become the team's number one priority, business related or not.

Nightwing knocked on Artemis's office and opened the door. Inside the blonde archer was looking at a map on the computer screen of the targets throughout the city and a few form other states. She was frustrated, unable to find a pattern no matter how hard she tired.

Dick come up beside her and squinted at the image on large screen, distorting his vision in a way that by some miracle would look different than with normal eyes. Once again no pattern could be seen. Artemis growled and closed the map, immediately turning on the screen saver which flashed photos of her and Doug's many extreme vacations.

"When did you guys go to Maui?" Dick asked looking at one of the many images before it dissolved into the next.

"We snuck away about four months ago and went windsurfing, first time I had ever done it. Doug was of course a freaking expert, but I got the hang of it. So besides invading my privacy what brings you up here bossman?

Dick looked uncomfortable, but her sarcastic title she laid on him reminded him that he was in charge, despite the fact that all of his considered and treated all of his senior staff aka the covert team as equals.

"Look I know we have been patrolling nightly, and honestly there is no end in sight. Bruce has made this our top priority, and the League is not going to assign us any more missions during the duration. They consider this an alpha level threat."

"I know, "she replied. "Local police are on their own for a while, but it's been that way for weeks." She looked at him carefully and recognized something else was troubling him. "Why are you really here Dick?"

"That obvious huh?" he chuckled and cleared his throat. "I have tried really hard to make our parings as organic as possible for patrolling. Right personnel - right chemistry sort of thing, but…." he sighed, "I need you and Wally in Boston tonight. We have two top firms making presentations and we need your specific skill sets. And before you start asking if Bart is available, Wally and Tim are the only ones who know what we're looking for. It just happens that Wally might be a tad faster than Tim, on foot I mean," he smiled.

Artemis gave him a very stern look, but Dick ignored it. He was preparing for the eruption, but was relieved with the small smolder instead.

"Fine," she answered. "As long as he can be professional, so can I. Just know I'm not happy about it."

"Trust me, he isn't either. He tried to get Roy partnered with him."

"Roy!" Artemis hissed. "He tried to get Roy? Is he still pulling that _real archer_ crap?"

Nightwing immediately regretted bring that up. " Uh Artemis, you were the one who actually coined that phrase. He just thought it might go smoother if he and Red were together. I think he was trying to be nice."

"Aggghhh," she frustratedly bellowed. "Whatever. Have him at the Zetas at 5:00 p.m. sharp, or I'm leaving his sorry ass."

It was cold bitter night in Boston, and an already unhappy archer, perched high atop a local building, was clearly annoyed not just at the pairing, but that her partner seemed typically comfortable in the outdoor setting in just his stealth uniform.

"Stupid sped-up metabolism," she mumbled.

On the streets below Wally smiled at the statement while pretending not to hear it. They had been out there for hours with no action so far. Artemis was cold, bored, and hungry. She assumed the speedster felt the same way minus the cold part. He had been running the streets for hours occasionally running into local stores for snacks and energy drinks. _Thank god for all night markets_ he remarked more than once.

"I think Nightwing got some bad intel," Wally stated. "Their presentations have been over for hours and there hasn't been any movement. How long do we stay out here?"

"Till we receive the all clear Kid Quitter." She smirked.

"Low blow there harpy, but I'm going to ignore it knowing how cold it is up there in "_I'm so superior land_."

Artemis smiled. She would never admit it to her ex, but it was kind of fun trading jabs back and forth. Just like old days, well almost. Wally had fit in just as she expected and feared, but he wasn't the class clown anymore. He remained as humble and contrite as he had been in her office, while still remaining funny and fun to be with. _How does he pull that off?_ She asked herself. She began to wonder what his life in Switzerland was like for that year and a half. He really did seem like a different person. Maybe the epiphany he spoke if was really legit.

She was thinking up her next insult, beginning to enjoy their verbal sparring match. She could never do that with Doug, while being a nice guy, he did not enjoy game playing as far as feelings and relationships went. Too high strung she decided. She missed that aspect of her life, because she loved to laugh and give as good as she got. She face palmed her forehead to bring her back to reality and cursed herself for even starting to enjoy the company of someone she _clearly_ hated.

Suddenly on her wrist PDA, an alarm went off notifying her on an intrusion six blocks away at the firm of Faris and Sholar, one of their two accounts in the Boston area.

"I see it," Kid Flash responded before the archer could notify him, and in typical Wally fashion, sped ahead to make it to the threat first."

"KF, don't go in. Wait till I get there. These guys have been setting some pretty dangerous counter measures to cover their….."

Artemis never had a chance to finish before Wally blazed in and set off the claymores set at the front door. The explosives were full of nails and other pointed projectiles. The speedster avoided most of the shockwave, but the remaining blast area knocked him back out the building, one arm dripping in blood with the outside building façade crumbling on top of him.

"God Damnit" she screamed through the radio, sprinting across rooftops trying to make her way to the fallen speedster. Off in the distance she saw the two men decked in black running out the back of the building into the escape vehicle. Her mind raged at Nightwing for paring her with someone as unprepared as Wally. _Skillset my ass_ she thought, _he should have thought more about the mission then trying to get us to bury some metaphorical hatchet. I'm going to kick his ass when I get back_, she fumed.

She saw Wally sit up and rub his head, dirt and rock sliding off his torn and bloody uniform. She shot a grappling hook and seconds later was on the street running and cursing at him at the same time. "You suck at fieldwork, why in the shit did Dick think you might be asset? Stay here, I'll be back in a while. Don't move god damnit. I don't need you screwing up anything else!"

Before she could finish chewing on him, the escape car shot onto the street heading for the onramp to the highway. If it reached the open road, they would be gone. She sprinted away from the speedster and jumped on to her motorcycle and was in pursuit. The streets were still fairly crowded even for this late hour and that would be to her advantage. She could weave in and out of traffic much quicker than their sports car and hopefully she could get a shot off before they hit the ramp.

The two perpetrators soon realized they were being perused and ramped up their speed. The driver swerved in and out of traffic, banging cars and lampposts. Up ahead a homeless woman was pushing her cart of recyclables on the sidewalk when the sports car swerved and struck her. It was no accident, these men had no conscience. If an innocent civilian was injured, it would end the pursuit, they knew the good guys had a code.

Artemis was a few car lengths away when she jumped from the bike doing an impressive acrobatic flip that Nightwing would be proud of. In midair she let fly an arrow directly on target to the direction men were heading. It missed by a foot and a half.

She landed with sickening thud as cars around her screeched to a stop trying to avoid the fallen archer prone on the street. She landed hard on her neck and pain shot through her spine. She screamed in equal parts anger and pain as she watched the car heading unabated to the on-ramp and freedom.

She struggled to her feet as the high pitch sound of a jet engine blew past her. The sound morphed into a shockwave that threw her and the civilians who had escaped their cars to care for the injured archer and the homeless woman to the ground.

She struggled to her feet once again watching the yellow and red crimson distortion trail explode up the street on a direct collision course with the escape vehicle. She pulled out her field glasses and watched in disbelief as Wally's body began to shimmer. Lighting danced across his uniform as he suddenly became translucent. Her jaw literally dropped as the almost transparent form of the speedster passed through the car and onto the street ahead with two passengers in tow. Wally could easily stop on a dime, but the driver and his passenger not so much. They slammed into a retaining wall at close to 40 mph. They were not getting up anytime soon, and if for some miracle they did, their broken bones would only allow them a few feet of escape before the agony would drop them again. In a blink of an eye, Kid Flash was beside her. He handed a suitcase to the dazed archer with what she assumed was the crucial infecting software.

"Stay here!" he demanded and in a flash he and the homeless women were gone. Artemis rubbed her aching neck when seconds later he was back, hoisting her in his arms before she could protest. They arrived at Boston Memorial Hospital moments later as doctors began treating the severely injured old woman.

"She needs and MRI!" Kid Flash demanded as another set of ER doctors ran to Artemis.

Artemis could not determine if the concussion or the sudden change of velocity had made her so dizzy.

"I'm fine damn it, let go of me." She demanded as she pushed the doctors away.

"Artemis will you shut up and sit down!" Wally scolded.

Despite her anger she suddenly found herself complying, unsure as to why.

Wally kneeled down to meet her eyes and gently cupped her face. "I know you hate this, but this is going to happen, one way or another. You can be patient and let them do their jobs or I will grab their meds and sedate you myself."

"Wally," she nervously whispered.

"Shhhhhh. I'll be right back. I promise." he responded as silent as she had been. "You're going to be fine, but they're going to make sure. Do you understand me?"

She swallowed hard and complied, suddenly feeling very vulnerable in the speedster gentle hold. She hated feeling so weak, so exposed, nervously watching Wally as he took the suitcase, kindly nodded, and disappeared into a blur back to Gotham. True to his word he retuned within the hour to help Artemis once she was released, back to the Zetas and home.

Three days later Artemis sat in the training facility at a secret department at Queen Industries, lightly sparring and unintentionally receiving counseling by Black Canary. Over the years Dinah had become something of a surrogate mother to the archer. Ollie and she considered Artemis to be the daughter they always wanted and treated her as such. Artemis still shared most everything with her real mother, but sometimes it was easier to open up to the less judgmental Canary.

The archer was still sore form the hard landing she had suffered, but the discs and programs they recovered were invaluable. Inside the suitcase was a sophisticated flash drive that was the infection source for some of the attacks that currently infected the mainframes of a few of their clients as well some at Wayne Enterprises. The programming was incredibly complex, and the algorithms needed to break it where going to be have to be equally as sophisticated. Tim Drake almost drooled in excitement as he and Wally sat down to break the code.

Artemis reached, but Canary easily countered. The two women were just going through the motions, very slow, very careful. Dinah could easily see that the archer's heart wasn't in it.

"Artemis, we could dance around the subject for few hours, but let's cut the normal tough girl bullshit and get to the problem. Is it Doug?"

Artemis smiled at her no nonsense approach. She really had come for the counseling, and she wasn't going to waste either one of their times trying to deflect. She hated asking for help or advice to most everyone, but not Dinah, they had too much history.

"No, were fine. We've both been really busy, so our schedules have not synched lately, seriously everything is fine in that department, trust me." she smiled raising her eyebrows.

"Ok, probably too much information," Canary deadpanned. " So my next guess is Wayne Tech's latest hire."

"Bingo," Artemis replied.

"Too much animosity?"

"No that's just it Dinah, it's the complete opposite." She lowered he head and rubbed her eyes, trying to find the correct words. "We never hit the friend stage, you know real friends. Things always moved fast with Wally needless to say, and now it's kind of happened and….."

"You don't want it to," Canary added.

"Yeah. I mean no. I…I don't know what I mean. God this is frustrating. This stupid _epiphany _of his has really screwed things up for me," she lightly laughed and looked up to see the concern on Dinah's face.

"What?" the archer asked wondering what she had said wrong.

Dinah cleared her throat. "He told you about it."

"Yeah. He gave me the whole spiel. You know the standard stuff. He'd been a dick, he wanted a second chance, wanted to make things right. He wasn't trying to get back together or anything stupid like that, at least I hope he's not that dumb, he just wants the same chance that….you know… we all got. It pisses me off to say this, but he does kind of deserve it."

Canary turned her head absorbing the information currently being fed to her.

"Dinah it's just his timing sucks as usual. Things are going great at work. I actually have a love life of some kind. I like what I do and I get to still play hero. I got over him a long time ago, but him retuning just complicates everything, because sometimes we have to ...you know work together, and it's really hard to be a bitch to him, which he totally deserves when he is actually trying really hard to be….a pretty decent guy. God why did her have to choose now to see the freaking light."

"Well Artemis, death will do that to you."

"What?" the archer asked looking majorly confused.

"What?" Canary retuned before closing her eyes in anger with herself.

"Shit." Dinah replied. "What exactly did he tell you?"

Artemis was usually pretty sharp in moments like these, but right now it was like they were having to completely different conversation, neither one of the listening to the other.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what did he say to you?"

Clearly becoming annoyed, Artemis spoke in short concise words trying to irritate the hero who was beginning to irritate her.

"He said he had an epiphany of some kind. You know a moment of clarity usually brought about by some scientific breakthrough or some near death expier…." and then the archers went pale.

Canary shook her head in disgust with herself. "Damnit!" she cursed.

"Dinah…tell…me…everything…now"


	4. Chapter Three

_Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews guys. Always appreciated. I mean it. So a real new episode tomorrow huh, not a Cartoon Network false start. Could use a little Spitfire, but not counting on it. I hope the writers have something special planned for making us wait so much. I like Blue Beetle, but damn get him his own show if he is the only one they are going to feature. Ok so I digress. Enjoy the chapter hopefully, write a review to make my day , and have a great weekend. GD_

Chapter Three

Wally and Tim watched the screen, marveling at the program that mutated in front of them. It was like watching a life form adapt to whatever environment it found itself placed in. This was the most sophisticated program Tim had ever seen. Despite his age, he was an expert at this kind of stuff, maybe even better than Dick. Wally was amazed as he watched the numbers spin around and change every few seconds. Predicting what it would morph into next was exciting and frustrating at the same time, but Wally was a master at numbers theory, and with the speed his mind worked, he was betting after observing this program for a few days, he might be able to predict its changes before it did. That was the plan at least.

Wally and Tim began picking away at the code, with old R.E.M. blasting in the background when Artemis barged in slamming her fist on the iPod, shutting off the music.

"Drake. Leave, Now!"

Tim didn't have to be asked twice. When the door shut Artemis sprung at him.

"What in the hell Wally? You don't freaking bother to tell me you died?" WTF? That's not something you keep to yourself asshole. God what in the fuck is wrong with you?"

Wally was not surprised she would eventually find out or her reaction to it. He had seen this side of her several times. She may be hard to read to others, but not to him. When she was pissed she was silent. When she hated you, you didn't exist. When she yelled and cursed at you she was hurt. At the volume and intensity scathing him at the moment, she was really hurt.

"Calm down ok. Not here." He looked around and took her to the stairwell. Usually she would not allow someone to guide her by the arm, but she never removed Wally's grip.

They arrived on the rooftop and Wally let go.

"Did Dick tell you? He swore to me that he'd keep it to himself. Why does he do shit like this?"

"Dick didn't say anything. Canary did, but she thought for some reason I knew. You shouldn't use words like _epiphany_ around me. I memorized the freaking definition so I could throw it back at you."

Wally sighed. He closed his eyes and looked at the ground.

"Look I'm sorry. I…I wouldn't have known what to say. It had been too long and … there was so much bad blood between us. It's just too hard to talk about and even harder to understand."

Artemis lowered her tone and tried to be calm. "Try me."

Minutes passed and the speedster realized the archer was not going to let him leave until he came clean. She'd been like that as long as he could remember. Wally walked to the air conditioning unit and sat down, gesturing for Artemis to join her.

"You know what I was doing in Switzerland right?"

She nodded.

"Artemis it was amazing. I think I'm a pretty smart guy, but the people I was working with were absolute geniuses. Like Steven Hawking –Alfred Einstein type folks. I was nervous to even raise my hand to ask questions sometimes. I don't want to make it sound like I was a part of this brain trust. I was about as low on the totem pole as you could get.

"The collider is like 16 miles long, deep underground. They had fired it off a few times before I ever got there, but the electromagnetic fields were never sustainable."

Wally knew he was beginning to go over Artemis's head, and it always pissed her off when he talked down to her, so he strived for some middle ground.

"I'd been there a couple of months and they finally decided to make another attempt, so they fired it off and it lasted for almost two minutes. They literally created, for a few minutes, the building blocks to why we exist. This energy actually existed in out plane of existence. You could physically see its structure, I can't tell you how amazing it was to be there when it happened, it was a true once in a lifetime experience, but something went wrong. You never hear about stuff like this on the news, it's all real top secret until all data can be analyzed, but the collider started to crack near a junction point around 10 miles from the control room. The place started to shake like a freaking earthquake hit. They tried to shut the collider down, but nothing happened. I knew no one would notice me if I was there or not, I was kind of a glorified gopher. You know, go for this go for that."

Artemis was growing impatient and she took Wally's hand. "Tell me the part I want to know about…please."

Wally frowned. "I sped down the tunnel. I didn't care about witnessing the particle anymore; I just needed to get those scientists out of there near the crack. Not that it mattered, but a couple of them had become friends of mine. I reached them just as the walls started coming down. They were unconscious already, so I wasn't afraid of them seeing me do my thing. Things started coming down to quickly so I had to kind of…vibrate them through the rubble wall. It was dangerous I know, but I actually have gotten pretty good at it. Barry would be proud, but if do it wrong, things have a tendency to…. explode. You can guess what happened next. The scientists made it through, I didn't. The shockwave slammed me against the collider and the rest of the walls came down. I couldn't see anything, I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe."

Artemis saw Wally begin shaking at the memory. Her heart suddenly hurt so badly. The speedster was one of the bravest men she had ever known, and knowing the severe claustrophobia he suffered form, this must have been his own personal hell.

Wally wiped his eyes, clearly traumatized still by the memory. "I don't know how long I was there. I don't know how long it took to dig me out, but the oxygen in that cave could have only lasted a few hours tops. I tried to vibrate my way out, but nothing happened. I was spent."

Wally sniffled and wiped his eyes again." This is the hard I'm sorry…so bear with me ok? I had no idea how big the space I was in was. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, it was that dark. I remember getting lightheaded and was pretty sure Hypoxia was stating to set in when I saw the light. It was escaping the crack in the conductor's skin. It…it was beautiful, and then there was the blinding flash and…."

He paused.

"This is going to sound stupid, but I saw myself in like this mirror. They say when you die your see your life flash before your eyes. It's not quite like that; at least it wasn't for me. I saw scenes of my life play out in this mirror, but then it just cracked into huge chunks….and in each one of them I saw….I don't how to say it…I saw like alternate lives I might have led."

Artemis just stared in disbelief.

"I know how dumb it sounds," He said when Artemis took his hands in hers. 'No it doesn't," she said softly. "Go on."

Wally breathed deep. "I saw these scenes and it was like part of me could feel what that life was like. Some I remembered some I had never seen before. I saw my birth, I saw playing in my backyard with my dad. I saw my parents crying while I was in the emergency room after my experiment blew up. I saw Dick, Roy and I doing our first mission together."

Then he hesitated. "I saw Flash dying. I saw me in his uniform. I …remember getting married, having kids. I even remember their names, Iris and Jai and they were beautiful. I think one of them even had my speed. I remember Bart taking the mantle.

"Was I in there?" Artemis carefully asked.

"Yeah…" he hesitated. " I saw images of you fighting on the same side as Deathstroke and your dad. …I think you might have become like a new Huntress or something. Maybe you were still undercover I'm not sure."

Artemis's never flinched, never took offense. She knew Wally was trying to protect her, but criminal DNA would always flow through her, in one future who knows what she could have become.

One question still nagged at her and she hated herself for asking. "Who was she…your wife I mean."

Her name was Linda. I'm not sure when we met, but it was like I had known her my entire life." he cleared his throat begging to feel slightly uncomfortable. "Sorry it's kind of hard to talk about," he whispered feeling guilty for some reason.

"What was she like?" she asked carefully not trying at all to hide her envy.

Wally smiled. "She was beautiful like you. Part Asian too, except dark hair. She was funny, I remember laughing a lot, but she was strong, determined. She was a great mom I think."

"All of these lives felt real Artemis. I can still feel, smell, and taste each of them. They're more than memories. I'm sorry, there's just no way to really describe it. Anyway finally the light faded and then that was it. The next thing I know they have the paddles on me and doctors are telling me I was gone for like 20 or 30 minutes. No one could explain it, least of all me. That always pisses of scientists when they can't figure out stuff. I never told them about the light, about the energy I saw. There would have been too many examinations, too much scrutiny. You can probably guess they would have found out who I really was so I kept my mouth shut."

"I told Dick because I had to get it out, it was freaking me out to keep it inside. He made me talk to Canary, and up until a few minutes ago I'm glad I did."

"Wally it was an accident. She thought I knew. I guess I made it sound like I did, but didn't mean to I promise. I just...I wish you had called me."

"What was I supposed to do, call you two years out of the blue and drop this on you after the way things ended, after all the shitty things I said. I disappointed so many people Artemis, I never even told Barry or my folks. Trust me I really wanted to talk to you about it, but Dick told me you were with someone now and I just didn't fell I had the right."

"Wally we were friends, we are friends."

"Are we?" He asked in with disbelief in his voice.

"Yes," she assured him. "You know how I am, how I work. Probably better than anyone does. It just takes me awhile to come around sometimes when I'm pissed, but a jolt like this usually does the trick. You were always really good at the jolts," she smiled.

"Part of my charm," he quipped. "Look whatever happened I got a second chance. I saw my own ghost of Christmas past and future. I'm going to make the most of it. Please...please believe me when I tell you I am not here to screw up yours or anyone else's lives. I just want to fit in and be around the people who I always felt the happiest around, and getting to do the hero gig again with you guys and lab work is not a bad deal either, but if we could be friends or just friendly would really make this a lot easier."

"Yeah it would wouldn't it?" She politely agreed.

"I promise you I'll give you a lot of space, and not make it weird."

"Wally, weird is like your middle name," she snickered, "but I know what you're saying. Me too, but don't be offended if a couple of bay watches or kid 'insert you insult here' pops out from time to time. It's just my way of being nice."

"Just no arm punches ok? I really don't miss those."

"Weenie."

"Yeah probably," he chuckled.

Artemis and Wally walked to the stairwell door.

"Thanks Artemis, thanks for...listening."

"I'm glad you're ok kid..."

"Kid crash, kid clumsy, kid mouth ..." He smiled.

"See, we're getting along better already," she laughed ponytail bouncing in the air down

the stair well.

The attacks were getting more frequent. Conner and Megan had thwarted a similar attack in Philadelphia, and after intense interrogation and even a mind scan from the Martian, no new clues were discovered. Each man was a low level criminal with no knowledge of the higher ups who hired him. It was a classic pyramid structure ensuring anonymity to the masterminds. So far the attacks had focused on the cities of the eastern seaboard where Wayne Tech's main clientele were located, but slowly they were spreading and it wouldn't be long before government agencies, and department of defense mainframes might become a too tempting target.

Wally and Tim were making progress, but it was excruciatingly slow, and Nightwing was under pressure not just from Bruce Wayne, but Batman as well. This meant long hours for his staff, and double shifts of senior staff and covert team members.

"Come on baby, you need a break," Doug insisted. "Blow it off for the weekend. We'll take a quick flight to The Rockies and do some climbing, clear your head, maybe give you a different perspective."

"Babe, I'd love to, but with all this stuff going down, I have to stay here. It sucks I know, but they need me."

"I need you," Doug snapped and then quickly dropped his aggression. "You have not had time for me in weeks. We never do anything anymore, it's all work work work. You need a break, need to be a little irresponsible. The dangerous naughty girl needs to see the light of day."

"Doug, not all of us are lawyers who can pick and choose their schedules. I swear to god between you trying to get me to play hooky and Dick adding more stuff to my plate I feel freaking smothered, you're going to have to let up and give me some space or I am going to snap."

Artemis had not intended to be so harsh with him, but she was under a lot of pressure, and he was not being particularly understanding. In the past, he laid several hints at her feet that she should quit and come work at his firm, but anytime she felt it coming, she changed the subject as fast as she could.

Artemis sat on the bed and kissed her boyfriend's head. "Soon babe I promise. As soon as things calm down at work, we'll try to do that climb, or something ...dangerous. Ok?" she grinned, batting her eyes in just the right way.

Doug had tried to find her lips, but she was off the bed before he could make his move.

"Alright babe, I've got to go."

"Artemis it's almost midnight. You're kidding right?"

"No rest for the weary, "she shrugged. "Call me tomorrow. You can crash here if you want, but I probably won't be back till tomorrow afternoon."

"Really burning the candle at both ends aren't ya?"

"You have no idea," blew him a kiss and was out the door

Wally did not want to be out on patrol, but Dick had ordered him. Ordered was probably a too strong a word, but he needed the speedster out of the lab before he cracked. Wally and Tim and been in there almost 48 hours straight and had hit the wall. He knew neither one would go back to their respective apartments, so they only way to keep them out of the office was to put them on the streets, possibly burn off some of the stress they had been under.

Wally had Zeta'd to Chicago, to watch over the firms Wayne Tech protected. He wondered why the company had become the main target for whoever was behind the attacks. There were plenty of businesses out there nearly as profitable, but with a lot less security to fight through. Bruce Wayne was a pretty powerful man, and even outside of the cape cowl he had powerful enemies.

Wally had been patrolling for hours when finally his stomach couldn't take it anymore. A quick trip to an all-night McDonalds seemed like the perfect answer. It was unseasonably warm in the Windy City and Wally made his way to the top of a nearby building to take a break and eat.

He had only been to Chicago a handful of times, but had never been still long enough to notice its beauty. He missed Central City, but the work he was doing, and they people he was working with filled a void he had not known existed.

He finished his third Big Mac when the wrapper blew out of the bag and scurried across the rooftop. Before the speedster could get up to retrieve his mess, an arrow shot through the silence and pinned the garbage to the ground.

Wally wheeled around at blinding speed to see Artemis perched on an adjoining rooftop. She didn't address him, but jumped from the building onto the one Wally was on. She approached him without speaking until they were inches from each other. Wally was about to say something when the archer tackled him to the ground and mashed her lips with his. It was savage, animalistic. The passion dripped off both of them in pools. Wally's hungry mouth explored hers, while her fingers dug into his back. Artemis pulled off Wally's top, and he did the same. Before long their uniforms lay to the side and their bodies joined together in perfect synch with each other. Hands and mouths explored every inch of the other's bodies they both knew so well. The never moaned, never made a sound, their eyes spoke for them. Their expressions gave way to euphoria as every nerve fired off at once and the climax of their particular dance ended. She lay in his arms for minutes until finally getting up, redressing, and disappearing into the night. She had found what she came for.


	5. Chapter Four

_Author's Note.__ Sorry this is so short. It seemed more organic being 5 chapters, and this way I get to piss you all off with a cliffhanger. Forgive me. _

Chapter Four

The next morning Artemis lay in her bed back in her apartment trying to deny her smile. She was angry, angry that she did not feel more guilt. Doug had treated her well, their relationship had been solid. She cared for him deeply and loved spending time with him, but she did not love him. She would not allow that particular emotion to find a home in her again. They had never spoken about exclusivity, but it was always implied. Doug traveled with his work about as often as she did, and if he did have another woman on the side, she doubted that this person could be nearly the perfect match he and the archer were. This act with Wally was a onetime thing; she just prayed the speedster saw it that way.

She was not looking forward to seeing Wally again. He always had a tendency to overanalyze things, he was a scientist after all, but she was not as disappointed with as him as much as she was disgusted with herself. She and Wally had found a strong middle ground, a chance for a new beginning, a friendship they had never had before, and now she jeopardized it by a reckless dangerous act. But if it was so wrong, why was she so happy?

She returned to the office the next day with no sign of the speedster. She found a reason to be all the way across the building three times near his section without ever catching sight of him. Finally she found a lab tech that told her that Wally and Tim had been called to Washington to analyze an attack at the STAR labs facility similar to one at Wayne Enterprises. They would be gone for at least two days. While she outwardly felt relief, inwardly disappointment crept in.

On Friday Dick called a senior staff meeting to be held in main conference room. Projected on the large wall screen was a sample of the virus they were dealing with, as well as a motion graphic showing step by step what the virus did and could do. Tim presented the information to the staff while Wally stood in the back ready to assist if needed. Artemis and Conner sat side by side notating the video, while Wally stood off behind him. Artemis never used her laptop for dictation, preferring to write information down in her particular version of short hand and transferring it later. She had not realized her screen saver had kicked on until a light snicker only she recognized came from behind her. She glanced down and discovered the windsurfing vacation pictures in Australia she and Doug took months ago were currently on display. She glanced back and saw the grinning speedster trying to look away, knowing he had been caught, but enjoying the archer's discomfort.

She closed the lid of the laptop, and mock frowned at the red head. Silently she mouthed the words "Nosey much?"

to his blushing face.

He returned serve by mouthing, "Could you not find a smaller bikini?" teasing the archer about her very revealing swimwear.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she once again mouthed back with a smile.

Wally just rolled his eyes in good natured way, when he finally realized Tim had been calling his name to provide his part of the presentation. The blushing speedster apologized while Artemis closed her eyes trying to stop herself from laughing out loud. She composed herself and looked back at the presentation catching the stare of one Megan Morse smiling back at her. She had seen the entire exchange and Artemis scowled at her trying to scare her off, but Megan was not dissuaded. Artemis looked away no longer caring and focused on the presentation, but both women knew what she was doing. She was flirting with her ex, and she was enjoying it. _Damn it_ she inwardly cursed wondering if it was for the act or getting caught.

Later that day Wally knocked on her office door bringing the latest updates on the virus and where they were in the process of dismantling it. She was nervous when he closed the door behind him, but was surprised to find he was all business, pleasant, friendly even, but still staying on point.

"I really think we're close to breaking this, but one more sample would really help if you guys can find one."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks."

There was a trace if awkwardness in the room as he gathered his papers and stood at the other end of her desk. He wanted to say something, she recognized the expression from years of living with him, but he hesitated before exclaiming. "You look nice today. Red is a good color on you."

"Thanks?" she answered in more of a question than a reply.

Wally walked towards the door when he heard her say, "About the other night..."

Wally turned and smiled. "Nothing happened Artemis, and if it had it was just two friends getting a little closure."

His tone was not mean, not short, just kind. She knew what he was doing and she appreciated it.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I'm sorry if..."

"Artemis there is nothing to be sorry about. It will go with me to my grave. No Dick, definitely no Canary since you know she can't keep a secret. I meant what I said; I'm not here to screw up your life ok? I'm no hurt puppy and I will not follow you around acting like one. Nothing is going to change, I promise."

She smiled and got up and hugged him. "Ok," she whispered.

She pulled away but he didn't let go. "It was really nice .Thanks."

"Thank you, you haven't lost a step."

Wally took a deep breath seeing where this could be heading, blushing he grabbed his papers and walked out. "See ya boss."

"Get back to work drone," she giggled and shut the door.

Things began to slow down at Wayne Tech, the attacks had begun to subside and even though Tim and Wally had not broken the program, they had enough information to create a sturdier firewall to keep out similar intrusions for the time being. Dick had tried to break it himself, and was satisfied with the results. If Nightwing couldn't get in, very few in the world could.

Artemis and Doug finally took that vacation to the Rockies, and the two adrenaline junkies made the most of every second of it. A certain monthly visitor had come to Artemis, and she was extremely thankful that sex would not be part of the equation during their time together. She had too many conflicted feelings and did not want intimacy to get in the way.

The entire staff had been putting in nightmarish hours, and no amount of overtime pay would be able to properly compensate them. Bruce Wayne had lent his private jets to send the exhausted covert team members to restful destinations. Conner, Megan, and Kaldur went to the islands to recharge, while Artemis used the other to head to Colorado. Flying on a private jet was very impressive to her boyfriend, but fancy things and expensive gifts never impressed the archer much.

Wally and Tim refused to take the break. They were too close, and if they wouldn't go, neither would Dick. Tim was like his little brother, while Wally was his closest friend. He would not abandon them. There would be time for the three of them to find some R&R later completely at his expense.

Wally was face down on his desk, snoring loudly as Tim eyes drifted open and closed. The computers had been programmed to analyze ever byte of data, and it would take hours to complete. When the lab alarms went off Tim was the first to react, Wally continuing to droll all over his keyboard.

"Wally...Wally wake up. WALLY!"

The speedster popped his head up, the indentions of the key strokes fresh on his face. He ran back to Tim's monitor and stared in amazement.

"Holy shit! Wally we did it!" Tim laughed, giddy from either the excitement or exhaustion, probably both.

Wally wrapped his arm around his lab partner and congratulated him.

On the screen the round sphere of tightly entwined numbers broke apart, and lined up in perfectly readable sequences.

Tim entered a few keystrokes and the code disappeared into the Wayne mainframe searching out copies or traces of the virus embedded in all corners of the system. A few more strokes and Tim initiated a trace looking for the infection source. He and Wally didn't wait long for the results to come back and their smiles and excitement fell off their faces.

"Oh no..." Wally exclaimed. "Damn it! Run it again Tim." He demanded though they both knew the results would be the same.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

It was past midnight when Artemis and Doug returned to her apartment. They were exhausted, the adrenaline rush of four days of hiking and base jumping finally taking its toll. To add to their delay, the Lear Jet Bruce had donated needed some unexpected maintenance and delayed their arrival by hours.

Artemis unlocked the door and the three security bolts above them and walked into a pitch black room. Her light timers should have come on hours ago, and all she wanted was a bath and some sleep. She dropped her bags and searched for a switch when the light on her desk turned on with Dick Grayson sitting behind it. Suddenly Artemis realized the room was full. Doug walked in beside her as the door slammed behind him and Conner stepped in front of it, blocking the archer from leaving. Doug became very uncomfortable as accusing eyes lay upon his girlfriend.

"What the hell are you all doing here?" She angrily demanded not one bit happy about the intrusion.

"We broke the code Artemis, we found the source."

She began to sweat as all eyes rested solely on her.

"And?"

"It's you." Dick started solemnly.

Artemis glanced around, seeing all exists blocked. It was a nervous habit drilled into her by her father. He'd be so disappointed she had allowed herself to be trapped so easily.

"Me? Are you fucking kidding?"

"Don't say anything else babe," Doug jumped in, his lawyer instincts taking over, trying to protect his girlfriend.

She glanced at the sad disappointed looks on all her teammates faces, all except Wally who wouldn't look at her.

She immediately snapped at Tim and the speedster. "You guys made a mistake. You haven't left the lab in days and you're exhausted, you must have missed something!" She pleaded.

"We ran it five times," Tim coldly stated. "It came from your laptop."

She began to shake, maybe in fear, maybe in anger. Conner and Kaldur stood side by side, flanked by Megan and Barbara. Tim placed the laptop next to Dick and he promptly spun it around to face the archer.

"Dick look at me," she pleaded pulling out of her boyfriend's grasp. Frantically she stood in front of him eye to eye. "There's got to be another explanation. You know me. I'm not some kind of spy!"

Wally had remained silent for as long as he could and finally approached the archer. His look was crushing.

"We know you're not, but he is."

Wally reached down at hit a key and her private vacation pictures appeared on the screen.

"He gave you the screen saver as a surprise didn't he? Installed it and surprised you with it. You were probably so happy with the gift you didn't think twice about it."

Artemis's fists clinched, a powerful anger beginning to erupt from her eyes, holding back the tears. She began to shake when Wally gently took her hands.

"We ran it so many times hoping we were wrong. I...I'm so sorry."

She pulled away reluctantly from the speedsters hold and grabbed her boyfriend by the collar.

"You played me. You sought me out and set me up. Everything was a lie, every god damned bit of it. Every vacation, every experience, everything you and I shared was all bullshit. You played me and I let you. Your name probably isn't even Doug is it? Say something you bastard!"

"I'd like my attorney now please," he smiled smugly.

"I don't know what the hell you're smiling about. The FBI is downstairs waiting," Dick smiled matching his smugness "They'll give you your counsel, not that it's going to do you much good. You pissed of the wrong man, one who happens to have an army of attorneys on retainer 24/7. My guess is you'll be ratting out your buddies before they get you to your detention cell tonight."

"Conner would you escort this sorry piece of shit downstairs for me please? Tell King Faraday I'll be down there in a few many to formally request charges be filled."

"With pleasure," he growled and maybe for the first time the man code named Doug Martin began to get nervous. Scenes of broken bones and elevator shafts began dancing through his skull. He couldn't get in FBI custody fast enough.

"Conner wait!" Artemis called out. She stepped into her bedroom and came out with a small box. "I meant to give this to you during our trip." She opened the box and inside was two gold arrows shaped cuff links. A very expensive gift she had wanted to share with him after all the time she had put him off due to her unrelenting schedule.

Conner had his arms secured when Artemis motioned for him to be released. She reached out and handed him the box and he smiled as held it in his hands.

"You shouldn't have," he arrogantly sneered. "If they offer conjugal visits, you need to look me up."

"I don't know how much you're going to feel like it," she evilly grinned and with a speed that even impressed Wally, she kicked the man in the crotch with the strength of a NFL punter. Before Doug could drop to his knees, she grabbed his face and head butted him, breaking his nose, and possibly his front teeth. Everyone winced as blood began to gush from one or two of the orifices on his face.

The savageness of her blow even stunned the archer as she wobbled back before Wally caught and supported her. _He always had a tendency to do that when she needed it _she thought.

Conner grabbed the broken man and dragged him to the elevator, banging his head on the door frame and adjoining wall.

"My bad," he shrugged and the door shut behind him, however the sound of flesh and blood making contact with steel and mortar continued until the elevator arrived.

Artemis wiped the blood off her forehead and eased herself from the speedsters grasp to address her boss. "Dick let me grab a quick shower and change of clothes; I want to ride with you the FBI field office."

"You know you don't have to right?"

"Ohhhhh yes I do. Don't freeze me out on this...please."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Nightwing replied. He knew this was personal, and he pitied whoever Doug Martin really was, he was going to wish he had never met the blonde; Artemis would make sure of it.

Dick wasn't surprised when he received the email from Artemis requesting time off. Demanding would be a more appropriate term, but it didn't matter. He would give her all the time she'd needed. Thanks to the head-but she had given Doug, she re-aggravated her concussion and Nightwing threatened her that the team would hunt her down and lock her in the watchtower if she tried to go patrolling. Beating the hell of some perps would have felt good, but it would only be a temporary fix.

Artemis had not left her apartment in days. She had ignored everyone's phone calls and texts. Politely but firmly asking Megan for some space, threatening to tell everyone what she saw her and Conner doing at the Christmas party if she tried fazing through the wall. She even told Dick to fuck off three times before grabbing her bow when he tried to enter in through the fire escape. Everyone had made an attempt, everyone but Wally, and despite wanting to be left alone, that made her kind of sad.

She was sitting on her couch in the dark when the latest batch of knocks arrived. She ignored it just like the others, but the knocking was persistent, perfectly timed to be as annoying as possible.

She walked to the door.

"Who is it?" She snapped

"It's Wally."

"Wally now is not really a good time."

"I know, but I'd like to come in anyway."

"I don't want to be a bitch Wall man, but I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Dick."

"He told me, don't worry. Look I'm not going to stay, but if you don't open the door there is going to be a big mess out here.

She growled reluctantly and opened it.

Wally was greeted with the vision of a very irritated Artemis in pair of grey sweats, Stanford sweatshirt, with her hair in a ponytail samurai style and the glasses she refused to wear because they made her look in her words too geeky.

He hoisted up to plastic bags, one with a gallon of cookie dough ice cream and mint chocolate ship in the other. Wally knew it was supposedly an ancient Vietnamese cure for depression and self-loathing, or at least that was the story Artemis lied when she was feeling down. The perfect mixing of the two flavors in one bite released a chemical that eased away all the doom and gloom she told him. He wanted so badly for it to work now.

"Is that what I think it is?" She hoped.

"Yeah. Figured you could use some about now. Let me go put it in the freezer than I'm out of here."

Artemis closed the door and Wally placed the frozen treats into the cold compartment.

"Give it about 10 minutes to get solid again and then go to town."

He looked at her unreadable grey eyes and decided there was one more thing she needed.

Wally took her in his arms and hugged her as tight as he could. She sat there cold and unmoving, resisting the gesture before crumbling and dissolving into his shoulder.

There were few people in the world she could cry in front of, and the man holding him in his arms luckily was one of them. It made the speedster sad thinking he had been the cause of so many of them.

"Men just suck Wally," she sniffled, tears beginning to dampen Wally's shirt

"I know. We really do." He said sincerely. "I'd give anything to make this go away. I mean it. You don't deserve this."

They stood there for minutes, Wally holding her, running his fingers through her hair cradling her.

Finally he released the archer. "You're going to be ok. I promise. It's just going to suck for a while. Once you testify and they lock that creep up, you'll feel better."

"I know," she sadly replied. It was ironic that the person who had probably hurt her the most, outside of her father, was the one she wanted to be with the most. _Karma what did I ever do to you?_ she wondered.

"Look I better go. Everyone is worried sick about you. Try to return their calls and let them know you're all right. Ok?

"Ok," she smiled. "And Wally….thanks."

"Hey, what are friends for." He gently placed his hand to her cheek and brought her eyes to his. "I know you're never going to believe this, but it wasn't your fault. No one blames you. It honest to god could have happened to any one of us."

"They should blame me. I'm the chief of damn security Wally, and I never saw it coming. You have no idea what it feels like to be played like that."

"Sure I do."

"When?" she impatiently asked, tapping her foot waiting for an answer.

"6th grade. Betty Larson. She asked me to be her boyfriend so that Josh Charles would get jealous and ask her instead. Man I hated that guy."

Despite her herself, Artemis let out a laugh and quickly covered her mouth. "Poor baby."

"No kidding it stunted me emotionally. Set me back…how old am I again?"

Artemis smiled. "Thirteen or is it fourteen, I can't remember."

"It's nice to see you smile. Ok well my work is done. Ice creamed delivered, smile received, and a promise to call the guys soon right?"

"Right," she grinned.

"I'll check on you in a few days ok? And if you run of cookie dough I'm a phone call away. Speedy deliver at your service."

He stepped out the door but a strong hand took his momentarily, impeding his progress

"Maybe you could….um stay awhile. I mean I do have two gallons of ice cream"

"Nah I better not, but it was nice of you to offer."

"Ok well I was going to put in the first season of Battlestar Galactica, but I know you must be pretty busy, with that nonexistent social life you lie about."

Everyone had their weaknesses. Superman had Kryptonite, Martian Manhunter had fire, and Wally West had food and sci-fi.

"Come on kid stomach; grab a cushion I'll get some bowls." She handed him the remote and returned from her kitchen with spoons only, opting for them just eat out of the containers. Wally realized at that moment she must be very depressed.

They sat silently, engrossed in the story that they had already watched together three times together over the years, quietly scooping the ice cream in front of them.

Artemis decided it was finally time to mix the two flavors and release the ice cream's magical healing powers.

"Hey!" Wally protested as she scooped a huge chuck twice as big as the spoon out of the speedster container.

"Quit yapping, I can't hear the dialogue. Plus their mine anyway. A gift if my memory serves."

Wally begrudgingly nodded and Artemis smiled victorious

"Hey this is the part where the hot blonde clone gets naked, do not fast forward this part like you always do."

"God you're a pig," she giggled, elbowing him and fast forwarded it anyway.

Wally pouted, but she noticed the sly smile cross his lips. "Fine, I've seen prettier blondes naked anyway."

They both stared straight ahead at the screen as Artemis began to smile an evil grin.

"What was his name?" she snickered.

"Nice." He replied. "Just served it right up there and you hit it out of the park, that's the Artemis I remember," and light hardily shoved her back.

Artemis did her double scoop maneuver and prepared to take a bite as she studied the contours of Wally's face. He was concentrating on the show, never knowing he was being judged. She was amazed at how much she could still see the teenager she fell in love with in him, while marveling at the man he had become. For just a moment she lost all memory of the fighting, the ugliness, the break-up. She just remembered the watchtower, the good times.

She took the spoon she was about to consume and pushed it to Wally's lips.

"No thanks. Mixing those two is disgusting. Give me just plain old vanilla any-day."

Artemis was not going to give up and Wally finally relented and took the spoon in. Flavor exploded in his mouth, but it wasn't the ice cream. It was her. Her taste. He could taste her lips, her tongue, the sweetness of her breath. She could have given him the just the spoon with nothing on it but her, and he would have been in heaven.

His forehead began beading up with a nervous sweat as he returned the spoon back to her.

"Not bad," he smiled nervously.

Artemis took the spoon and stuck it back in her mouth, licking the remnants left by the speedster off and smiling back, clearly enjoying his discomfort.

This dance continued as they both nonchalantly fed each other, pretending to be engrossed by the program until the ice cream was gone.

Artemis got up and put the second disk in and sat down a tad closer to Wally then before. As the credits rolled Wally spoke directly ahead never glancing at the archer.

"Did you love him?"

She contemplated the question for a time. "No. I really liked him, but not loved. I could have never shared my secrets, my dreams with him. Despite being a grade A douchebag and a thief, he treated me pretty decently."

Wally nodded and continued watching.

Finally Artemis found the nerve and repeated the question

"Did you love her?"

"Who Wally asked?"

"That Linda girl. The one from your vision."

Wally rubbed his chin pretending to be deep in thought.

"Desperately," he sighed. "She was my everything."

Artemis swallowed hard and nodded, disguising her hurt, but quickly becoming annoyed at the smile of the speedster's face.

"What?" she asked irritably

"Nothing."

"Wally?"

"Her name wasn't Linda. Linda Park was a research assistant back at Stanford. This girl from my vision, her name started with an A, ,art something like that."

They both looked back at the TV, Artemis felling a burst of joy in her heart.

"So..." she couldn't fight the next cheesy line." I was your ninja wife huh?"

Wally shrugged. "Who knows, you have to look in your own shattered mirror to figure that one out."

He placed his hands on hers and reached over and gently kissed her lips. Nothing powerful, nothing intrusive or passionate. Just sweet. Sweet like him.

Doug had hurt her, there was no doubt she would feel the pain for a long time. They had never been soul mates, but kindred spirits. Even if it hadn't turned out the way it had, Wally was something Doug would never be, Wally was a hero. He was her hero. From the day they met she knew it was true even though it would be months before she could admit it

The second episode began and Artemis rested her head on the speedster's shoulders.

"Jai is a stupid name by the way," she smirked.

"I'll tell Mr. Garrick you said that, anyway it was your idea."

"It was?"

"Yep," who's stupid now?"

"You are as always," she grinned.

Hours later, the first season was over and Wally got up and stretched. "This was fun; I need to bring ice cream over more often."

"Yes you should," she grinned. "I have seasons two and three too."

"Sounds fun., but I better take a rain check." He got up and pulled the archer to her feet and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Good night Artemis. I'm really sorry about Doug."

"It's ok, but…thanks. You really cheered me up." She hesitated momentarily. "Maybe when the Doctor and Dick give me the all-clear we could go…you know patrolling together."

She saw the blush immediately cover his cheeks and she knew the arrow she launched had once again hit its mark.

"I'd like that, I'd like that a lot," he grinned. "I could patrol with you several times; maybe make it a regular thing."

They both laughed, but the memory they shared of their rooftop rendezvous both intrigued and excited them.

"You know Wally it's late. You could always stay here. My couch folds out to a queen, and that's where your ass would be, "she smiled. "Because Artemis Crock is not easy."

Wally smiled back and touched his forehead to hers. "You are absolutely right about that. Artemis Crock has never been easy, that's one of the things I've always loved about her."

"Good. I'm glad that's out of the way. Now tell me more about this mirror thing. What did our alleged kids look like, I pray to god neither one had your hair."

Wally sighed as she snuggled into him. The TV never turned back on that night


End file.
